role models

Was watching the Hulk Hogan netflix series the other day.

Hulk was amazing. I’m not talking about the man behind the bandana. I’m talking about the character.

I know it was all fake. It was all staged. But it was theatre. The highest form of theatre. And for a 6 year old kid who had just lost his dad, the feelings Hulk Hogan made me feel– this was an amazing thing.

It was Hulk Hogan, and Bigfoot, and Mr. T. and America was the greatest country in the world. And it was as simple as that.

There were heroes then.

Good guys and bad guys.

It wasn’t complicated.

Now I’m not talking about later renditions of Hulk– Hollywood Hogan or whatever.

I’m talking about 1980s era Hulkamania.

There weren’t shades to it.

You knew who to root for and who to root against.

And America stood for all that was righteous. For truth. And for justice. And for human rights– all around the world.

And somehow Hulk was the embodiment of all of it. At least in my mind.

And as long as he was winning against the Iron Sheik or Sergeant Slaughter or whatever anthropomorphic trope they came up with, it felt like America was winning against the evil in the world.

Things are more complex now.

I was so proud to be an American then. I still am– but the pride I felt then was so pure. Because America was GOOD and some other nations were EVIL. And Hogan represented and symbolized that.

It seems we don’t really have that clarity anymore.

Really, we don’t have heroes anymore at all– and if we do we find them boring.

We want our heroes to be edgy and unpredictable. To have ticks and social anxiety and flaws. To fight with each other.

We cheer for the villains and antiheros more than the true good guys these days.

Glorify the antisocial. The outsider. The rebel. Not the kindhearted do gooder. The respectful neighbor.

Maybe that’s how we see ourselves as a society.

Edgy. Flawed. Damaged.

Willing to do good. If we get around to it. If we’re in the mood. But mostly just existing between adrenal surges or tequila shots.

We don’t celebrate role models or look for them or even expect them to exist.

Maybe we’ve lost our innocence.

Or maybe we’ve been let down one too many times.

Hulk ended up a let down.

But what he gave us for a few years there was the purest form of carry. He was a role model for role models.

I guess I come from that bygone era.

Always waiting for that hero to show up and save the day.

I think most of us in Gen X are secretly like that. We’re all capable of leadership– we’ve just been conditioned to think a “real” leader is going to come along and do it all for us.

Its not happening guys.

That’s why I threw my hat in the ring.

To be a role model.

Not for kids.

For you Gen X.

I want to show you what YOU can do.

Not in the future.

Not “one day.”

Right now.

Our heroes are dead.

The legends are aging.

Its our time now.

WE decide how THEIR story ends.

And I know I want to pay it all off.

To help YOU to be the hero we need. The hero your kids need.

The hero the world needs.

So get out here and play.

I’ll hold them off as long as I can in the meantime.

Support me if you can!

America Deserves to Win.

Chat soon. America Deserves to Win!